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Monthly Archives: September 2008

There is going to be a lot of room on Seton Hall’s bench when the Pirates play in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in November.

Junior forward Robert “Stix” Mitchell and assistant coach Derm Player will serve two-game suspensions because Mitchell rode the team bus back from last winter’s game at Georgetown.

As a transfer sitting out one year per NCAA rules, Mitchell was supposed to pay his own way to road games. Apparently Player is being punished because he was on the bus with Mitchell and either did not notice or failed to act.

Word about this has been circulating for some time, although it was believed the suspension might be reduced. It leaked out today on http://www.piratecrew.com/, and after a little checking, it looks like it’s a done deal.

The suspension of Mitchell, a 6-foot-6 wing forward who was Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year at Duquesne, leaves the Pirates with just seven eligible bodies for the games against USC on Nov. 20 and Memphis or UT-Chattanooga Nov. 21. Freshman center Mel Oliver is still awaiting Clearinghouse approval.

Why is Mitchell suspended for the Puerto Rico games and not the first two regular-season tilts against St. Francis (Nov. 14) and Columbia (Nov. 16)? The rationale we’re hearing is that because the infraction occurred on the road, that’s where the penalty will be assessed.

Hoops Haven Says: The program is a three-ring circus right now. It seems like every week there’s a wacky development, and not a very flattering one at that. In this particular case, the punishment — handed down by athletic director Joe Quinlan — is too harsh for the crime. Supposedly Mitchell was stranded down there, although we’ll never know for sure. Bottom line: A one-game ban would have been sufficient.

When is the last time a Big East team suited up seven players for a game? Maybe Villanova during the phone-card scandal?

If it happens, it won’t be a pretty picture.

IN OTHER SHU NEWS: Rodrick Rhodes, the former McDonald’s All-American from St. Anthony, has been appointed to fill the administrative assistant position. Rhodes, who was heavily recruited by the Hall but played his college ball at Kentucky and USC, was an assistant at UMass last season.

In 12 years of covering high school basketball, Larry Cubas was one of the most likeable coaches I came across.

During my dealings with him, when he coached Bound Brook and Franklin in the late 1990s, Larry never mentioned his distinguished hardwood background — that he was a two-time captain at Dartmouth, an All-Ivy League guard and Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

That’s the unassuming kind of guy he was.

Last February, the longtime Bridgewater resident died after collapsing during a pick-up game at the Bridgewater Jewish Community Center. The cause of death was sarcoidosis, an inflammation that affects vital organs and can be difficult to detect. Cubas had been in good health — he was the reigning MVP of the JCC men’s league. He was 53 years old.

In Larry’s honor, the JCC has established the Larry Cubas Endowment Scholarship Fund. On Sunday it will host the first Larry Cubas Memorial 3-on-3 Tournament, which hopes to raise several thousand dollars for the fund.

It’s four weeks to Midnight Madness . . . do you know where your roster is?

At the moment, Seton Hall has just eight players cleared for takeoff.

Forward Melvyn Oliver awaits Clearinghouse approval, while transfers Keon Lawrence and Herb Pope will be seeking waivers from the NCAA.

After reading recent columns by prominent media members Andy Katz and Jay Bilas that cast a critical eye on the surge in waiver requests, instinct tells us it’s unlikely that both players will get waivers. If Lawrence does get one, he won’t be eligible until late December due to credit transfer problems.

And you can scratch guard Jamel Jackson from the Pirates’ depth chart. As first reported here, the sophomore transfer has not enrolled at Seton Hall because of an issue with his transcript from Technical Career Institute. Another source tells us this could change, but the hour is getting awfully late.

For Rutgers, two of the program’s three seniors are serving indefinite suspensions from game action. Word is that forward J.R. Inman and wing Jaron Griffin will miss a minimum of three weeks’ worth of games and the ban could last as long as six weeks.

That leaves a team comprised almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. Suddenly a laughably light non-conference schedule doesn’t look so funny.

Bottom line: Right now Seton Hall has a personnel shortage and Rutgers has a leadership shortage. They have four weeks to figure it out.

Watchung Hills High School has turned to a familiar face to run its boys basketball program.

Justin Salton, who starred in football and hoops for the Warriors in the late 1990s and helped revive the boys basketball program as an assistant coach, was approved as its new head coach Monday night by the board of education.

After earning Division III football All-American honors as a wide receiver at Franklin & Marshall, Salton returned to Watchung Hills and coached freshmen basketball before moving up to varsity assistant under Gene McAteer. His rigorous conditioning program was a big factor behind the Warriors’ Somerset County Tournament title in February — the program’s first county crown since 1973.

McAteer left in July to take over the boys basketball program Bridgewater-Raritan.

The late Don Haskins was honored at a memorial service yesterday, and ESPN.com posted this piece about him from 2006, written by former Record columnist Adrian Wojnarowski. A great read and really places the old coach into historical context:The real Glory Road

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Kevin Bannon is back in coaching — at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville. Bannon was considered for the Hillsborough H.S. job a couple of years ago but didn’t get it. The link:After long exile, back in action

J.R. Inman and Jaron Griffin, senior forwards and returning starters on the Rutgers University men’s basketball team, have been suspended from game action indefinitely for violating team policies, head coach Fred Hill announced.

Inman and Griffin will continue to participate in team activities, including practices.

A source close to the situation said the suspensions are not related to academics or basketball and are likely to last multiple games, possibly as long as three weeks for each player.

“Accountability is extremely important in the development of a successful program,” Hill said in a statement. “”Jaron and J.R. are team leaders and valuable members of our basketball family. How they respond to what has been asked of them will determine the lengths of their suspensions. We expect them to grow from their mistakes and serve as positive role models for our underclassmen.”

Inman averaged team highs of 12.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last winter, while Griffin averaged 7.5 points and 3.2 boards.

Their absence will leave the Scarlet Knights with an exceptionally young roster when they tip off the season Nov. 14 against Marist. Point guard Anthony Farmer will be the lone senior in uniform and center Hamady N’Diaye will be the lone junior.

It also will leave them with limited frontcourt options; aside from N’Diaye, the only forwards available will be freshmen Greg Echenique, Christian Morris and Pat Jackson.

Rutgers begins practicing on Oct. 17.

HOOPS HAVEN SAYS: Word is these suspensions are going to last a while. This team has a serious leadership vacuum.

HIGHLIGHTS:— The Puerto Rico Tournament is a stiff early test, with USC and possibly Memphis on the docket.— Playing St. Peter’s at the Jersey City Armory is a good move for recruitment purposes and good for relations with the Hurleys.— Four of the seven non-conference home games are slated for weeknights. That’s a bonus to the commuter crowd that is becoming the backbone of the fan base.— The Big East home slate is excellent for fans, with local rivals Rutgers and St. John’s and high-profile foes Georgetown, UConn, Pitttsburgh and Villanova.— An unusual four-game homestand from Jan. 22 to Feb. 5 could make or break the season.

LOWLIGHTS:— Michigan backing out really hurt the non-conference home schedule. As of now there is simply no compelling game Hall fans can see in person until January. There is a TBD listed for Dec. 9 so perhaps someone interesting can be lined up at the last minute (we heard Arkansas was pursued but fell through).— The first five games of the Big East schedule (at Syracuse, WVA, Nova, at Notre Dame and at UConn) form a brutal gauntlet. The Pirates will be decided underdogs in all five.— There is no reason for the Hall to play archrival Rutgers twice in a 10-day span. That takes a lot of sizzle out of the second game. Dumb, dumb Big East.— Bobby Gonzalez will be suspended for the league opener at Syracuse and that is surely one of the games he would most like to coach.

HIGHLIGHTS:— The game at North Carolina in the Dean Dome on Dec. 28 won’t be competitive, but it will be a heck of an experience.— Give Rutgers credit for playing two in-state foes (Rider and Princeton) on the road.— With three exceptions (at UNC, Cincy and Notre Dame), Scarlet Knights super-fans can easily drive to every game on the schedule.— The Knights play St. John’s in Madison Square Garden— Marist is a decent opponent for a season-opener.

LOWLIGHTS:— The “Challenge” in the four-game Garden State Challenge will be drawing a crowd above 2,000.— Lehigh, Binghamton, Bryant and NJIT would be great if this were the College Bowl instead of college basketball.— There is no reason for Rutgers to play archrival Seton Hall twice in a 10-day span. That takes a lot of sizzle out of the second game. Dumb, dumb Big East.— Scheduling four non-conference games on football Sunday afternoons and one the night before Thanksgiving is a great way to guarantee the fewest people possible will pay attention.— To open your Big East schedule on New Year’s Eve is a huge buzzkill (pun intended).

There were some gems in this entry:— Bobby’s third-person reference to “Gonzo” and calling Lawrence’s waiver request a “layup.”— Four years left on his contract. Interesting. Most of us in the media thought there were three, but there you have it.— Noting that Msgr. Robert Sheeran backs the coach’s philosophy toward bringing in at-risk players— I agree with Gonzo’s premise that Lawrence and Pope would make the Hall a dangerous team this winter if they both get waivers.

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About the Author

Jerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.Email Jerry.